Riffyn Raises a $15M Series B to Accelerate Its Growth in Life Sciences R&D

May 29, 2019Timothy Gardner

OAKLAND, Calif. — May 29, 2019 -- Riffyn, a global provider of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) for scientific process design and data analytics, announces the close of a $15 million Series B financing led by M Ventures with participation from Waters Corporation, O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures, and Plug and Play Ventures. Funds will be used to globally expand sales and scientific services, and to accelerate development of Riffyn’s process development and advanced data analytics technology.

“I am absolutely delighted to welcome M Ventures and Waters as investors and directors of Riffyn,” said Tim Gardner, Founder and CEO of Riffyn. “They bring a depth of experience and knowledge about the life sciences market that will turbo-charge our already-rapid growth.”

“We are really pleased to lead this significant investment round alongside such high-quality co-investors and founders. Riffyn brings considerable efficiencies and value to its growing base of R&D customers worldwide,” said Joey Mason, head of M Ventures’ Life Sciences Fund. “The company is becoming a stand-out leader in scientific data analytics and is a compelling example of how digital transformation is creating the lab of the future.”

Application of machine learning and AI to scientific R&D data has been hampered by the heterogeneity of data and the constant change of R&D processes. Researchers commonly report spending 80% of their data analysis time cleaning and preparing data. Traditional data systems have failed to address these issues because they lack the structure, flexibility, or data accessibility needed for fast-paced R&D cycles and modern data analytics. Riffyn resolves these issues with “scientific blueprints,” a patented computer-aided-design approach to science that breaks down silos to deliver clean, contextualized, and connected data.

M Ventures is the strategic, corporate venture capital arm of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. Its mandate is to invest in innovative technologies and products with the potential to significantly impact the company’s core business areas. From its headquarters in Amsterdam and offices in the US and Israel, M Ventures invests globally in transformational ideas driven by great entrepreneurs. M Ventures takes an active role in its portfolio companies and teams up with entrepreneurs and co-investors to translate innovation towards commercial success. M Ventures has a significant focus on early stage investing and company creation including the creation of spin-offs to leverage the company’s science and technology base.

Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT), the world's leading specialty measurement company, has pioneered chromatography, mass spectrometry, and thermal analysis innovations serving the life, materials, and food sciences for more than 60 years. With approximately 7,000 employees worldwide, Waters operates directly in 31 countries, including 15 manufacturing facilities, and with products available in more than 100 countries.

Timothy Gardner

Tim Gardner is the Founder and the CEO of Riffyn. He was previously Vice President of Research & Development at Amyris, where he led the engineering of yeast strain and processes technology for large-scale bio-manufacturing of renewable chemicals. Tim has been recognized for his pioneering work in Synthetic Biology by Scientific American, the New Scientist, Nature, Technology Review, and the New York Times. He also served as an advisor to the European Union Scientific Committees and the Boston University Engineering Alumni Advisory Board. Tim enjoys hockey, running, mountain biking, and being beaten by his sons in almost everything.